I attended the event - it was fantastic! Luckily I had a spot under some trees, near the podium. I also was at a fence - so could lean on it (or stand on it even) the whole time - which was also fantastic. Water bottles were given out by volunteers - and some attendees nibbled on sandwiches, cookies, energy bars around me. I had an energy bar myself.

Please be advised that due to the anticipation of a large number of visitors to Roosevelt Island on Saturday June 13, 2015, visitor parking at the Motorgate Garage will be limited to ensure adequate parking for residents and patrons with a monthly permit. Residents without a monthly access card should be prepared to show proof of residency when approaching the 36th Avenue bridge. Visitors who plan to park inside Motorgate will be directed over the bridge and into the garage if there is room. Once the garage reaches capacity, vehicles will be re-directed to park in the vicinity of Vernon Boulevard in order to avoid unnecessary vehicle traffic on Roosevelt Island.

In addition, there will be No Parking on Main Street beginning Saturday, June 13th from 12:00 AM to 9:00 PM at the following locations:

1) 510 Main Street to 543 Main Street
2) The Public Lot at the rear of the R.I. Tennis Bubble
3) 250- 300 Main Street opposite Sportspark

and:

Please be advised that due to increased traffic on Roosevelt Island on Saturday, June 13th, the Tram will operate on a rush hour schedule from 7 AM until 10 PM to accommodate residents and visitors. There may be traffic delays on Main Street as well as delays in Red Bus and Q102 service throughout the day. Please plan your travel accordingly.

The Clinton Campaign sent this email yesterday to those who received a ticket for the Roosevelt Island event advising to expect airport style security:

We can't wait to see you on Saturday at the Hillary for America official launch event -- we're so excited that you're going to be a part of this day! Here's some information you'll need ahead of time:

When and Where
- Saturday, June 13th doors open at 9:30 a.m. - 1:00 p.m.
- FDR Four Freedoms Park, Roosevelt Island, NY

What to bring
- Your printed ticket -- the confirmation email you received when you registered for the event, you can also use your phone to show your ticket. Children under the age of 13 do not need a ticket to enter the event.
- Small personal cameras and cell phones will be permitted.
- Guests are encouraged to bring water in standard-sized, clear plastic bottles, as there will be a limited supply at the event.

What not to bring
- There will be airport style security. Items that will NOT BE permitted include food, liquids other than water, large bags, large purses, backpacks, strollers, umbrellas, noise makers, bullhorns, posters, signs, pets other than licensed service animals, sharp objects, or weapons.

What to expect
- Limited cell service on Roosevelt Island.
- The event is standing only -- seating will be provided for ADA guests.
- Food is not permitted in the park, so make sure to have breakfast before you arrive.
- Be prepared for a hot summer day; sunglasses, sunscreen, and comfortable shoes are highly encouraged.

How to get to Four Freedoms Park
The best way to get to the park is by public transportation -- parking on the island will be extremely limited.

- Subway: Take the F Train to the Roosevelt Island stop. Follow signs to Four Freedoms Park.

- Tram: From Manhattan: Get on the tram at 59th Street & Second Avenue Station. Travel time to Roosevelt Island is 4-5 minutes, with trams departing every 10 minutes. Exit at Tramway Station on Roosevelt Island. Follow signs to Four Freedoms Park.

- Bus: From Queensboro Plaza overpass, take stairway down north side to corner of Crescent and Bridge Plaza North. Take the Q102 Queens Surface bus to Roosevelt Island. Follow signs to Four Freedoms Park.

We want to accommodate as many ADA guests as possible, so if you know that you will need assistance on-site, please contact ADAseating@hillaryclinton.com to make necessary arrangements. ADA guests are welcome to bring one guest with them into the ADA section.

This is going to be a great event and we're thrilled to have you -- one of our best supporters -- there as we launch into the next phase of this campaign.

... named after former President Franklin Delano Roosevelt, was chosen for the event because the Democratic frontrunner's career has been inspired by Roosevelt’s belief that “America is stronger when we summon the work and talents of all Americans," according to a campaign official. And Clinton has long considered former first lady Eleanor Roosevelt a role model, the campaign said.

But critics have raised a list of concerns including that the island is notoriously difficult to reach.

"I can't think of an area in the five boroughs of New York City that's harder to get to," Flip Pidot, Republican strategist and CEO of American Civics Exchange, told FoxNews.com's "Strategy Room."...

The Twitterverse responds to the notion of Roosevelt Island's inaccessibility.

In view of the impending arrival of Hillary Rodham Clinton to launch her campaign as candidate for President of the United States in Four Freedoms Park on Saturday, as well as the expected presence of fellow Democratic Party leaders and thousands of supporters, Roosevelt Island has garnered quite a bit of media attention.

A number of news organizations have reached out to the Roosevelt Island Residents Association to learn more about our community, the impact of the rally on the plans for Roosevelt Island Day, and the views of individuals about the overlapping events.

RIRA has distributed the following statement to the media:
Thanks for your note requesting information from the Roosevelt Island Residents Association about Roosevelt Island Day and the Clinton event on Saturday, June 13, 2015.

As Chair of the Communications Committee of the Roosevelt Island Residents Association, I refer you to the comments of RIRA President Jeffrey Escobar, as posted here (scroll down to the update at 8:20 pm).

The annual Roosevelt Island Day will proceed as planned. The activities include residents who volunteer to plant flowers and plants in the planters that beautify Main Street; a petting zoo and rides for children; demonstrations of hands-only CPR; Island organizations sharing news of their programs and recruiting members; a blood drive; portrait sketching sessions led by artists of the local gallery; and food for purchase. These activities will be held in and adjacent to Good Shepherd Plaza, located in the heart of the Island on Main Street. Most attendees will be Island residents (14,000 people live here), who will walk to the event from their nearby apartments to see their friends and neighbors and have fun.

The Clinton event will be held in Four Freedoms Park, at the southern tip of the island. It is at least one mile south of Good Shepherd Plaza. Most attendees will arrive by subway and tram and then walk at least half a mile south to arrive at the entrance to Southpoint Park, and then another quarter mile to the rally site. At the end of the rally, these visitors are welcome to attend the Roosevelt Island Day activities. It is anticipated that many participants at the rally will retrace their steps and take transportation back, and few will likely walk the additional quarter mile north of the subway and tram to enjoy the warmth and friendship of the small-town community atmosphere of Roosevelt Island Day...

UPDATE 8 PM - Here's the set up at FDR Four Freedoms Park tonight before Hillary Clinton's speech tomorrow. You can see the stage and podium facing north, press area, seating and Ms. Clinton's walkway to stage as well as the crowd overflow space with video screen at bottom of granite stairs.

TIME : A small New York City island gets ready for Hillary Clinton http://t.co/kA37AFnzLP (http://t.co/E9a9MZkZK… …

In 1969, American architects Philip Johnson and John Burgee accomplished the dream of turning an inaccessible island, located in the heart of New York City, into a modern metropolis of 20,000 inhabitants.

This island, which lies next to the island of Manhattan, was to become a place of joyous tranquillity surrounded by water and trees, a car-free zone dedicated to pedestrians and cyclists. Residents who the designers hoped would live in this place included families with children, single people, seniors, the middle class and the poor. It was a dream of social diversity in the heart of the city.

On this site, residents would find new housing, of course, but also offices, shops, a hotel, a nursery, a fire station, a library, two hospitals and a chapel. The place is romantic and its insularity would make it a separate territory.

This documentary photography work is inspired by the text and plans that the architects Philip Johnson and John Burgee presented in 1969 to New York City’s mayor at the time, John V. Lindsay. This is a document of about twenty pages, entitled, The Island Nobody Knows. Nearly fifty years later, I confront the imagination of these two visionaries in the daily lives of the residents of Roosevelt Island.

This SATURDAY June 13, 2015, come out and continue the tradition of celebrating Roosevelt Island in fine fashion! Starting at 9 AM the Good Shepherd Plaza will be full of volunteers, activities, entertainment, games and so much more!

Clinton campaign officials tell me they do not anticipate their event, taking place at the southern tip of Roosevelt Island, interfering with Roosevelt Island Day taking place in the middle of Roosevelt Island. They are expecting crowds of several thousand people.

As of today, campaign officials say there are no plans for Ms. Clinton to attend Roosevelt Island Day or visit any area other than the FDR Four Freedoms Park.

gathered together at the PS/IS 217 schoolyard to celebrate winning the $500,000 for the Green Roof and to participate in a ceremonial milkweed planting. P.S./I.S. 217 plans to build a managed milkweed haven on its green roof to serve as a flight corridor for monarch butterflies, which have suffered a severe loss of habitat.

Roosevelt Island resident Christine Delfico of iDig2Learn hosted the celebration and introduced Council Member Ben Kallos who congratulated the community on its Participatory Budget win. Mr. Kallos asked the Roosevelt Island Brownies questions about milkweed plants and monarch butterflies. Mr. Kallos also revealed a secret. When he proposed to his wife, he hid the ring in a box of butterflies.

The Manhattan Borough President’s office today committed $250,000 in funding to build a green roof on top of Roosevelt Island’s public school. The announcement came as elected officials and other community leaders gathered to celebrate the school’s recent win of $500,000 through the District 5 participatory budget ballot for the project.

“The green roof project at P.S./I.S. 217 will help the environment while giving our kids a vital opportunity to learn by doing. I’m thrilled to celebrate this funding today and proud to announce my office is committing $250,000 to this project as well,” said Manhattan Borough President Gale A. Brewer. “The project-based Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM) education made possible by facilities like this one promote a deeper, more enriching learning experience. At the same time, green roofs reduce the ‘urban heat island’ effect and improve our air quality – a win-win.”

"Congratulations to the students, parents, and friends of P.S./I.S. 217 for winning participatory budgeting funding to construct a green roof that will be a great educational boon for our children. I am deeply impressed by how actively the Roosevelt Island community mobilized and came together throughout the participatory budgeting process. The success of the green roof project was a product of incredible volunteerism by residents and community groups of all ages. Participatory budgeting is about actively engaging to improve the community around us. P.S./I.S. 217 and its supporters certainly did that," said Council Member Ben Kallos.

Peter H. Kostmayer, CEO of Citizens Committee for New York City, said, "We're thrilled to provide a 2015 Neighborhood Grant for iDig2Learn's volunteer project that helps restore wildlife micro-habitats right here in the city. When neighborhood groups team up with local schools to better the environment, the entire community benefits and young student leaders are born. We're grateful for their dedication and happy to be a small part of these remarkable local efforts." iDig2Learn, an initiative that promotes green spaces and provides children with hands-on education using plant life, works with community groups as an advocate for the school green roof project.

Girl scouts were among those who spent hours raising awareness and encouraging voting throughout the Island. Janine Schaefer of the Beacon/Roosevelt Island Youth Program’s Troop 3244 said, “We live in an amazing community where people care enough to vote.” Added Aiesha Eleusizov, Brownie Girl Scout leader of Troop 3001 (which is sponsored by Manhattan Park), “It’s been so exciting for us to see our hard work pay off.”

“This green roof will help us provide a real world setting to support our curriculum,” stated Principal Mandana Beckman of P.S./I.S. 217. “It will facilitate sharing our learning in the arts and sciences and provide a venue for many generations of students and the greater Roosevelt Island community.”

"We are growing our STEM programming,” said 217PTA co-president, Olga Shchuchinov, “so this win brings us one step closer to creating a 21st century teaching hub on the roof."
“The P.S./I.S. 217 green roof will be an exceptional resource for Roosevelt Island and all of the students who attend the school,” said Assembly Member Rebecca A. Seawright. “Once again, Roosevelt Island residents have demonstrated their remarkable ability to unite for the common good. Congratulations to P.S./I.S. 217 for this wonderful achievement.”

Noted the Roosevelt Island Garden Club’s president, Ali Schwayri, “Engaging children early sets them on a lifelong path of learning and interest in being stewards of our planet. We couldn’t be more excited to share our expertise and passion for this important project.”

Stated Eva Bosbach, founder of the Roosevelt Island Parents’ Network, “This project will serve our children throughout their school years, and our entire Island for years to come.”

Christina Delfico, who helped navigate the green roof project as iDig2Learn’s founder, stated, “Green roofs give young people a chance to test their theories, find solutions, and build professional know-how. They benefit our environment, transform neighborhoods, and serve as a catalyst for all sorts of learning. In short, everyone wins.”

The event included a ceremonial planting of the milkweed plant that monarch butterflies, which have suffered a severe loss of habitat, heavily depend upon. iDig2Learn is working with P.S./I.S. 217 to include the school’s green roof as one of many planting sites along Roosevelt Island that will together form a managed milkweed haven. These destinations will serve as a flight corridor for monarch butterflies on their migrations south to warmer weather every fall.

The cost for P.S./I.S. 217’s 6,750 square-foot green roof has been estimated at $1.5 million. Organizers said that, with one-half of the funding now in place, they hope the project will be in full swing by 2018.

... we’re launching a new citywide ferry service to be open for business in 2017. New ferry rides will be priced the same as a MetroCard fare, so ferries will be as affordable to everyday New Yorkers as our subways and buses. ….

Council Member Costa Constantinides and the NYC Economic Development Corporation today hosted a Town Hall on the upcoming ferry dock in Astoria. The dock will be part of the upcoming citywide ferry system set to be implemented by the EDC in 2017.

The ferry dock will be located along the Southern portion of Halletts Peninsula. Once the docks are built, the ferry system will be operated by a third-party provider. A ferry ride will be equal to the cost of a subway ride. The ferry system is targeted to be implemented by 2017.

Target ferry riders will be commuters who live walking distance from the dock and who ride the ferry to get to work during the week or for appointments during the weekend.

Constantinides said, “We are at a turning point for Astoria. This ferry system will provide vital transportation options to an often under served neighborhood. It will make Western Astoria more interconnected with Manhattan, Brooklyn, and other parts of Queens. It will also be a sustainable and inclusive way to use our city’s greatest resource - our waterfront.

Astorians that live near the ferry dock - in Astoria Houses, Old Astoria, and Goodwill - are so close to Manhattan yet it takes a 30 minute bus ride to an overcrowded train to get there. Ferry service will change that paradigm. Now is the time to embrace an additional form of transportation.”

“A Citywide Ferry system is a historic undertaking that will play a vital role in the City’s efforts to create a modern and equitable economy for all New Yorkers", said NYCEDC Executive Vice President Seth Myers. “Service to Astoria not only provides another transportation option for local residents, it also bolsters the resiliency of our entire transportation system, connecting New Yorkers to the waterfront and job centers, and driving business growth and job creation across New York City."

Costa Constantinides represents the New York City Council's 22nd District, which includes his native Astoria along with parts of Woodside, East Elmhurst, and Jackson Heights.

Here's what Mr. Constantinides said at the June 4 Astoria Ferry Dock Town Hall Meeting as he introduced

the ferry presentation by NYC EDC.

Some in the Town Hall audience were not happy with the format of the NYC EDC Ferry presentation. According to the Astoria Post:

... Numerous attendees also took issue with the structure of the EDC’s presentation itself.

After EDC representatives gave a slideshow talk on the ferry’s location, rollout and design, they broke into small stations – geared to separate issues such as transportation and design – to speak one-on-one with neighbors. There was no opportunity for a public question-and-answer session.

“When you have a breakout format, you [should] come back together, and one person from each groups shares,” 28th Avenue resident Dominique Perrot said. “I don’t really know what all the issues are.”...

I asked about funding for construction of a Roosevelt Island Ferry dock. Roosevelt Island Operating Corp (RIOC) Directors have previously said they were not aware of any current funding sources. I was told by NYC EDC representatives at the Astoria Town Hall that the Roosevelt Island dock will be funded although no specifics were provided. NYC EDC reps also indicated a willingness to come to Roosevelt Island for a future Ferry Town Hall meeting.

Recent Reader Comments

Recent Comments

Total Pageviews For Last 7 Days Via Blogger

WELCOME TO ROOSEVELT ISLAND

Welcome to the Roosevelt Islander Online!

Roosevelt Island is a mixed income, racially diverse waterfront community situated in the East River of New York City between Manhattan and Queens and is jurisdictionally part of Manhattan. The Roosevelt Island Tramway, which connects Roosevelt Island to the rest of Manhattan, has become the iconic symbol of Roosevelt Island to its residents.

The Purpose of this Blog is to provide accurate and timely information about Roosevelt Island as well as a forum for residents to express opinions and engage in a dialogue to improve our community.